Gold-washing apparatus



April 22 1-924.

- 1,491,649 T. WIEGAND GOLD WASHING APPARATUS Filgsi June 16. 1925 2 Sheets-Shed 1 IF Q INVENTOR. magand,

ATTORNEY.

April 22 1924. 1,491,649

T. WEEGAND GOLD WASHING- APPARATUS Filed June 16 1923 2 Sheets-$heet 2 WIWM INI/ZENTOR. Thomas Wlegcmd,

Patented Apr. 22, 1924.

UNITED STATES 1,491,649 PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS WIEGAND, OF EDMONTON,'ALBERTA, CANADA.

GOLD-WASHING APPARATUS Application filed June 16,1923. Serial No. 645,902.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it-known that I,THoMAs WIEGAND, a subject of the King of England, residing at Edmonton,-in the Province of Alberta and Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gold-Vashing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a washing apparatus for use in connection with thewashing of gold, although it is to be understood that anapparatus in accordance with this invention can be employed for any purposes wherein it'is found applicable, and the invention has for its object to provide an apparatus of'such class, in a manner as herein- 9 after set forth, having means to provide for theseparation of the coarse rock from the sand and fine rock when the material which is to beactedon is supplied tothe apparatus, and further including means to provide for the washing out and collecting of the gold from the sand and fine rock during the travel thereof through the apparatus.

.Further objects ofthe invention are to provide a gold washing apparatus which is simple in its construction and arrangement, strong, durable, thoroughly eflicient and convenient in its use, readily assembledand comparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

With the foregoing and other objects'in view, I the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically described and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention,'but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modificati'ons can, be resorted to which come Within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views Figure 1 isa-top plan view, broken away,

- of a gold washing apparatus in accordancewith this invention.

-Figure 2 is aside elevation of. a goldv washing apparatus,-broken away, in accord.-,

ance with this invention, andfurther-illus trating in dotted lines certain of the ele; ments of the apparatus. a

gFigureBis an-enlarged view, in longitudinal section, of one end of the-apparatus. 'Figure 4' lSflEL section on line 4-54, Fig ure3.-.'Q

.Figure 5 .is asection on line 5-5, Fig

ure 2; y 7

ure 3.

-Figure 7 is a fragmentary view,fin perspective,=of one ofthe-collecting cups.

Referring to thedrawings in detail, the apparatus includes a permanently inclined trough for the passage of water, sand and finero'ck, and the said trough may be of any len th desired, and comprises a fiat bottom or-med of threesections, 1, 2 and 3, the 'latteris imperforateand interposed between the sections land '2. The section2 is' arrangedat vthe uppenend of the trough and the section lat the lower end. The section 2 isvof greater length than thesection'l and alsotof greater length than the sectionv 3, but the section 3 is; ofgreater length than the vsection 1; Thecsection '3 is formed of an elongated flatperforatedmetallic plate, of less thicknessthan the thickness ofthe sections.1,,2, and ,each of the sectionsl, 2, are rabbeted at theiropposed ends, asiat 4, to,pr ovideqa seat for the section-3. Theupper, faces of-the sections 1,

2 and 3, are flushl with each other. The

spacing of thesectionsl, 2,.provides what may be termed an opening 5,. which has extending across the topthereof the section 3. The trough further includes a pair ,of.

vertically disposed'sidewwalls 6 of the de- QFigure 6 isa' section online 66, Fig

sired height, and the trough is further closed at its upper end. The lower end of the troughis formed with a depending dis charge member? for the water 8 and the material discharged-from the trough by the stream ofwaten- The water, as well as'the material acted on, travels inthe direction ofthe arrows 9,- and the discharge member di rects .the water as, it leaves the trough against a water wheellO for thepurpose of revolving it. The water -wheel is' arranged in advance of the lower end of the troughand will be hereinafter more specifi cally. referred to. I, h

.The.upper end of the trough is mounted upon vertically disposed supporting stand: ards11,only one-ofwhich is shown, and the lowerrend,of the trough. is mounted upon the outer end 12, of a receptacle 13,- which is arranged below the lower portion of the trough,. and the latter extends ;upwardly from, the receptacle "13' at an inclination as shownin'Figure2. V a 1 Secured to and projecting upwardly from the upper end of the trough is a hopper 14, which has its lower end permanently opening into the upper portion of the trough and said hopper 14 is provided with a combined deflecting and separating element in the form of a perforated plate 15, which extends from the rear wall to the open front 16 of the hopper, and said plate 15 inclines downwardly from the rear wall to the open front wall of the hopper. That end of the plate 15, which is arranged at the open end 16 of the hopper is positioned above the bottom of the trough. The plate 15 is provided for separating the sand and fine rock from the material which is supplied to the hopper for the purpose of having the gold washed therefrom, and the separated sand and fine rock pass through the plate 15 and into the upper end of the trough, and it is forced down the trough by a stream of water supplied into the hopper, from a flume or other suitable supply means as indicated at 17.

Arranged forwardly of the hopper '14,

as well as abutting thereagainst and having the plate 15 engaging therewith, is a discharging element 18 which is of inverted V- shape and of a width to project beyond each side 6 of the trough. The forward end of the element 18 is provided with a vertically disposed arresting plate 19, which conforms in contour to the shape of the element 18. When the sand and fine rock is separated from the coarse rock, the coarse rock is deflected by the plate 15 on to the element 18, which discharges the coarse rock from each side of the apparatus, as indicated by the arrows 20 in Figure 1. The plate 19 prevents the coarse rock from falling into the trough.

Secured to, as well as depending from the bottom of the trough, is a downwardly inclined direction pan 21, which is arranged below the section 3 of the bottom of the trough, and is of greater length than said section and is so positioned as to extend above the upper and project beyond the lower end of the section 3. The bottom of the pan 21, at the upper end thereof, is secured against the lower face of the section 2, and the bottom of the pan 21, at the lower end thereof, is spaced from the section 1. The travel of water and the material carried thereby through the pan 21, is indicated by the direction arrows 22. The pan 21 is arranged above thereceptacle 13 and the lower end of said pan 21 extends into, as well as discharges into the top of the receptacle 13.

Secured to each side of the receptacle and projecting from the end 12 of said receptacle, is a pair of supporting members 23. Holdfast devices 24 are provided for securing the members 23 to the sides of the receptacle 13. The outer end of each of the supporting members 23 has secured thereto a bearing 25, for the shaft 26, of the water wheel 10. Each end of the water wheel 10 has a series of spaced studs or pins 27 projecting outwardly therefrom, and which are provided for the purpose of intermittently actuating a pair of reciprocatory shaken arms 28, which extend through the wall 12 of the receptacle 13 and are attached to the sides of a shaker box 29, which is arranged below the forward end of the directing pan 21, so that the material received in said pan 21, from the trough will be discharged into the box 29, as shown in Figure 3. Each of the arms 27 is slidably mounted in a guide 30, carried by a member 23', forwardly of the wall 12, and the outer end of each of the arms 27 has a depending portion 31 arranged in the path of the studs orpins 27.

The box 28 gradually decreases in height from its front to its rear end andhas depending from' its bottom a pair of eyes 32, to which is attached a pair of pulling springs 33, which are also secured to'the wall 12 of the receptacle 13, and the springs 33 are provided for shifting the box 29 in a direction opposite to the direction to which the box 29 is shifted by the arms 28.

Fixedly secured within the receptacle 13, and arranged below the box 28, as well as inclining downwardly towards the end wall 12 of the receptacle 13, is a directing pan 34, provided with a vertically disposed element as at 3 5, forpivotally connecting the box 29 therewith, as well as supporting the box 29 in spaced relation with respect to' said pan 34. The pan 34 is of greater length than the length of the box 29 and the material is discharged from the rear end of the box 29 and into the rear endof the pan 34.

Secured to the inner face of the end wall 12 of the receptacle 13, below the forward end of the pan 34, is a'collecting cup 36, which is constructed of copper and having its upper face coated with mercury, as at" 37. The opposite end wall of the receptacle 13, at a point below the cup 36 has secured therewith a collecting cup 38, similar in construction to the cup 36'. Arranged within the receptacle 13, is an inclined chute 39, which extends from the cup 36 to and above the cup 38 for discharging material into the latter. The end wall 12 of the receptacle 13 is provided near its lower end with a discharge outlet 40, and leading from the cup 38 to the outlet 40 is an inclined chute 41. The chute 39, as well as the chute 41, has the upper face thereof provided with a covering 42, such as burlap or other suitable fabric, so as to retain any fine or flour gold that may escape from either of the cups 36 or 38. r

The buckets of the waterwheel 10 are indicated at 43, and receive the'stream through the discharging element 7 of the trough. The said element 7 is so set up as to direct the stream into the buckets 43, of the wheels 10, thereby revolving the same, and owing to the providing of the wheel with the studs or pins 27, the arms 28 will be shifted in one direction, and the shifting of the arms 28 will carry the box 29 therewith against the action of the springs 33, and when the studs or pins 27 pass clear of the arms 28, the springs 33 will come into play and shift the box 29 in a direction opposite to that to which it is shifted by the arms 28 and by such arrangement a reciprocatory @movement will be imparted to the box 29.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying .-drawings, a gold washing apparatus is set up, whereby the gold is washed from the sand and fine rock or gravel during the travel of the same through the apparatus, and although the preferred embodiment of the invention is as referred to, yet it is to be understood that changes in the details of construction can be had which will fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim is 1. A gold washing apparatus comprising an inclined trough having its bottom perforated for a portion of its length, means arranged at the upper end of the trough and acting on the material to be treated to separate the lighter from the heavier particles and supplying such lighter particles to the trough and to direct the heavier particles from the trough, a directing pan suspended from the trough and having its bottom inclining downwardly and forwardly and arranged below the perforated portion of the bottom of the trough, a receptacle positioned below said pan, a directing pan secured within said receptacle, a spring controlled shaker box arranged over and pivotally connected with the last mentioned directing pan and positioned to receive material discharged from the forward end of the first mentioned directing pan, a collecting cup secured within said receptacle and positioned to receive material discharged from the forward end of the second mentioned directing pan, and a conducting means leading from said cup and arranged within the receptacle.

2. A gold washing apparatus comprising an inclined trough having its bottom perforated for a portion of its length, means arbottom of the trough, a receptacle positioned below said pan, a directing pan secured within said receptacle, a spring controlled shaker box arranged over and pivotally connected with the last mentioned directing pan and positioned to receive material discharged from the forward end of the first mentioned directing pan, a collecting cup secured within said receptacle and positioned to receive material discharged from the forward end of the second mentioned directing pan, a conducting means leading'from said cup and arranged within the receptacle, and means supported from said receptacle and operated from the discharge at the lower end of the trough to provide for the reciprocation of said shaker box.

3. A gold washing apparatus comprising an inclined trough having a portion of its bottom perforated, means arranged at the upper end of the trough and acting on the material to be treated to separate the lighter from the heavier particles and to supply the lighter particles into the trough and to direct the heavier particles from the trough, a directing means arranged below the perforated portion of the bottom of said trough, a receptacle positioned below the trough, and shaking, directing, collecting and conducting means arranged within said receptacle and in operative relation with respect to each other and with the shaking means arranged in operative relation with respect to the first mentioned directing means, and means supported exteriorly of said receptacle and actuated from the discharge at the lower end of the trough to provide for the operation of said shaking. means.

In'testimony whereof, I aflix my signature hereto.

THOMASIWIEGAND. 

